The influential UK Decanter Magazine has named Misha’s Vineyard as one of New Zealand’s top 20 wine producers in its September edition.

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Misha’s Vineyard ‘Verismo’ Pinot Noir 2008 has garnered many accolades from its sneak previews and now with selection into the Pinot Noir category of the Tri Nations Wine Challenge, the wine is proving its winning form. The ‘Verismo’ Pinot Noir 2008 is one of three wines from Misha’s Vineyard that has been chosen to represent New Zealand in this prestigious wine challenge with the others being Misha’s Vineyard ‘Limelight’ Riesling 2009 and Misha’s Vineyard ‘Dress Circle’ Pinot Gris 2009.

“We had a wonderful season in Central Otago in 2008 and the ‘Verismo’ Pinot Noir is a reflection of that season. It also reflects the distinct characteristics of the Bendigo sub-region with a spice-laden aroma which contains notes of liquorice and dark chocolate. It has a powerful broad spectrum palate which is balanced by a tight structure of supple but dense tannins” said Olly Masters, Winemaker for Misha’s Vineyard.

The 2008 season was noted for having excellent weather at flowering resulting in a great fruit set. After some cooler temperatures initially, the weather warmed to optimum levels of dry and relatively calm conditions. The vines at Misha’s Vineyard were managed down to just one bunch per cane yielding just 3.35 tonnes per hectare across all the Pinot Noir in order to maintain concentration.

Using 300 litre French oak Hogsheads, the Pinot Noir was held in oak barrels for a year. The final selection for Verismo was made by identifying superior ferments and barrels after which the wine was racked once and returned to oak for a further three months and bottled mid-winter without fining or filtration. ‘Verismo’ 2008 has 62% new oak and consists of Clones 5, 115 and 667. Misha’s Vineyard “Verismo” Pinot Noir 2008, of which only 126 cases (of 6) were produced, has been described by critics as “powerful’ and “well-structured” and has been tipped as a Pinot Noir with great aging potential of between 6-12 years.

As with the naming convention across the entire range of Misha’s Vineyard wines, the word ‘Verismo’ comes from Misha Wilkinson’s theatrical past. It was an artistic movement of the late 19th century originating in Italy and especially influential in grand opera where it was often referred to as the ‘golden age’ of opera. Operas of this period were based on contemporary life, including its sordid and violent aspects, and were always noted for having heightened emotions and passion with Puccini acknowledged as one of the period’s greatest exponents.

The retail price of Misha’s Vineyard ‘Verismo’ Pinot Noir 2008 is approx. NZ $60. Misha’s Vineyard wines are distributed by Negociants New Zealand.

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For further information please contact:

Misha’s Vineyard Wines Limited
Misha Wilkinson Tel: +65 98285735 (Singapore) or misha@mishasvineyard.com www.mishasvineyard.com

Misha’s Vineyard Wines are distributed in New Zealand by;
Negociants New Zealand
Clive Weston – Managing Director Tel: 021 905 565
Jane Jackson – Sales Director Tel: 021 661 356
Trade Enquiries – Freephone 0800 634 624 Email to ordersnz@negociants.com

* * Tasting Note for Verismo downloadable from: http://www.mishasvineyard.com/indulge/pinot-noir/verismo/
** High resolution bottle shot available on request misha@mishasvineyard.com

About the 2010 Tri-Nations Wine Challenge:
The Tri Nations Wine Challenge is an invitation-only challenge where the best representative wines from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand are chosen across 13 varietal categories. These countries’ wines are then judged against one another to determine gold medals, double gold medals and trophies. This year’s Challenge will be judged in Sydney on August 3 and 4 with an awards presentation scheduled on 17 September. After a series of dinners and trade tastings in Sydney, the winning wines will then tour to Hong Kong and Shanghai. www.trinationswine.com

About Misha’s Vineyard Wines Limited:
Misha’s Vineyard is located on one of the most spectacular sites in New Zealand at the edge of Lake Dunstan in the Bendigo sub-region of Central Otago. The sun drenched north-west facing terraces of the 57 hectare (140 acres) estate provide the optimal conditions for producing world-class Pinot Noir and a range of aromatic white varieties. The ‘no compromise’ philosophy behind Misha’s Vineyard wines requires an exacting viticulture regime, hand-picking and considerate winemaking methodologies. Under renowned winemaker Olly Masters, the range of Misha’s Vineyard wines has won critical acclaim in New Zealand and across international markets.

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ニュージーランドワインを世界に広めたい。
2010年5月18日

Japanese web-site Kiwi Breeze – dedicated to spreading the word on New Zealand wines – interviews Misha Wilkinson and Olly Masters and presents a profile of Misha’s vineyard.

http://www.kiwibreeze.jp (Japanese)

http://www.kiwibreeze.jp/gallery (photo gallery)

Pinot Noir is very much terroir sensitive. Some say the grape flourishes best in Burgundy, but other parts of the world are capable of producing top-class pinots. Two examples came to light recently when Misha’s Vineyard from New Zealand and Merry Edwards from California presented their pinots in Hong Kong.

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Speaking of the difference between the pinot noir produced by Misha’s Vineyard and other vineyards in New Zealand and Australia, Oliver Masters, consulting winemaker for Misha’s Vineyard, said: “Misha’s Vineyard pinot noir comes from a great range of aspect, soils and altitude – all within one unique vineyard. This gives great complexity and structure whilst retaining fruit power.”
Misha Wilkinson, marketing director for Misha’s Vineyard, said of her New Zealand venture: “Being so far south at 45 degrees latitude, the most southerly wine-growing region in the world, the climate in central Otago is unique in relation to its broad temperature range and average rainfall, which is less than 400 millimeters annually.”
“The climate is continental versus every other New Zealand growing region and the majority of Australian growing regions, which are maritime climates.”
Misha’s Vineyard is one of the most sun-drenched sites in central Otago, with slopes facing the western sun soaking up the heat during the day and retaining it in the schist rock soil.
“We also have diversity through the range of altitudes on the vineyard that go from 205 meters above sea level at the lakefront up to 350m at the top of the vineyard. This provides a range of growing conditions and allows us to harvest over a longer period of time, getting a broader range of flavors in the grapes and providing more complexity in our wine.”

Masters said passion and attention to detail – from choosing the vineyard site, right through to the distributor – are all that the wines need.

For Wilkinson, it was the other way around. “Unlike most vineyards, we started our business with a marketing plan. Our initial focus was on producing a range of premium wines that would suit the palates of both our Asian markets and the markets of Australia and New Zealand.
“We sought to capitalize on the unique ability of cool-climate wines from Central Otago to express themselves with purity and intensity. Choosing the right site took more than two years. Vineyard development, team selection and wine production have all been based on our philosophy of no compromise.”

And from California, the Merry Edwards Winery produced the first vintage of its pinot noir in 1997. Wine & Spirits Magazine named Edwards one of the most influential winemakers in the world in 2004.
That honor comes as no surprise in the industry.
Throughout her 33-year winemaking career, Edwards has been perfectionist to a fault, constantly refining her vineyard practices, wines and techniques.
She studied winemaking and earned her degree at the University of California, Davis, in the early 1970s, and was one of only three women in the master’s program. She moved to Sonoma County in the mid-1970s, where she was taken both with the area and the distinctive pinot noir grapes grown there.
“Consistency is what I have always been aiming at,” she said, while presenting the Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2007, Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, 2007 and Meredith Estate Pinot Noir 2006, each of them showing the unique result of the microclimate and the terroir.

Link to The Standard

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Autumn colours and winter skies over the vineyard

Morning tea break at Ah Foo's

Our harvest crew has been fantastic and although some of our French workers have left to return home, and Ken – from China – has also moved on – we are looking forward to some great new crew joining the team next week. I’ve been working with the team each day driving tractors and running buckets – and my aches and pains are testimony to the steepness of the slopes and heavy buckets. We are really thankful to the effort our whole team, both permanent staff and casuals, have been putting in and appreciate their care and attention to picking. Our focus on quality has been applied by every member of the team.

The word from the winery is wow! They are really delighted with the quality of fruit coming in and even my limited palate is enjoying the wide range of tropical and berry flavours from the early stages of juice and ferments. The most frustrating part is now waiting until late 2011 or early 2012 before the Pinot Noir from this vintage gets released!

Sun exposed Sav Blanc

Sav Blanc in the shade

Daniel runs buckets

Taking a break

Fun at the break

Picking or tasting?

We will be back to the field on Monday to continue with the Pinot Noir in Olly’s selected sections.

Misha & Kevin (from Jebsen Fine Wines)

Andy, Olly and I all met up in Hong Kong airport having been on different flights but all arriving around the same time and then headed to our hotel in Causeway Bay. The next day was a Sunday so we decided to go to Stanley for shopping and sight-seeing. We took the bus which is a pretty interesting trip as it winds around the narrow streets of the island. That evening we had dinner at Jumbo’s in Aberdeen (something that I had never done in spite of many trips to Hong Kong over the past 20 years) and just the three of us dined on an entire Peking duck – delicious!

Our new distributor in Hong Kong, Jebsen Fine Wine, organised an amazing schedule for us. The first day started with training and a tasting for the whole Jebsen team and then an afternoon of retail store visits and then finishing with a trade dinner at Nicholini’s restaurant at the Conrad Hotel.

Over the course of the next two days we met with many of Hong Kong’s five star hotels and top restaurants and did product training at one of the top hotels who have already taken on Misha’s Vineyard wines. There was a great reaction the wines (especially the Pinot Noir) and you’ll soon see our wines in many key places in Hong Kong.

Desert at Cucina, Marco Polo Hotel

The schedule for the final day included a media lunch at Cucina at the Marco Polo Hotel. This restaurant has a spectacular location overlooking Hong Kong harbour, on the Kowloon side, and it happened to be a perfect day to enjoy the view! We had a marvellous attendance at the lunch thanks to the brilliant organisation by Florence Luk, who does PR & Marketing for Jebsen (and happens to be an amazing photographer as well!). The highlight of the lunch was the dessert which was created by Pastry Chef Ryan Zimmer, which we didn’t try to match with any wine. After admiring it for some time, we ate it and it was even more delicious than it looked! Ryan described it as “Strawberry rose capsule with greek yoghurt cheesecake, balsamic gelato, candied pistachio, honey, & cinnamon brioche”.

Later in the day we went to Rare & Fine Wines and held a wine tasting in their shop and then headed back to Hong Kong island for a customer dinner which was also hosted by Rare & Fine Wines at the Hong Kong Banker’s Club.

This dinner had some of the most delicious Chinese food I’ve ever eaten and each course was beautifully matched with one of our wines. One of the best matches was actually the chicken livers and The Gallery Gewürztraminer!

We’re so lucky to be working with Jebsen Fine Wines in Hong Kong. We may be their smallest vineyard but I think we’re their most enthusiastic! Thanks to Gavin, Donny, Kevin, Bonnie and the entire sales team for looking after us so well. We’ll be back soon!

New Zealand Aromatics Masterclass in Japan

Olly presents to the masterclass

The New Zealand Aromatics Masterclass was a big success with many sommeliers and media attending. Hiroyuki Seino, sommelier from Apicius, helped Olly with the seminar providing a lot of information particularly about the ‘Old World’ wines that we compared with our Misha’s Vineyard examples. Seino-san also had good knowledge of New Zealand through his trip there in February, which included a visit to Misha’s Vineyard of course!

Misha signs bottles at The New Zealand Bar, Tokyo

During our time in Tokyo Olly and I also met lots of the key wine media and visited some cool restaurants and bars to present our wines.

On the last evening I went to Aotea Rangi, a restaurant who now carries our range of wines, and offered samples of our wine to the regulars who were dining that evening and met some lovely expats, Judy, Kiren & Denise, who all loved the wines and gave us some great tips for where we should try and get the wines listed. Meanwhile Olly went to the NZ Bar (which is also a restaurant) in Bunkyo-ku where the only wine being served during the evening was Misha’s Vineyard!

I joined Olly at NZ Bar later in the evening and we had a wonderful time with the many guests who came to the bar especially to try the wines. I didn’t realise Japanese could drink so much! We then had fun signing bottles for people and then signing the winemaker’s wall to mark our visit! Please visit the NZ Bar Blog